Wishing Well
by DCFanatic4life
Summary: Maria has just debuted on SmackDown, but she feels very unwelcome backstage. Who in the world can befriend her and help make the switch better? Well, Jeff Hardy might fit the bill...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or real people portrayed in this story. Their characters belong to WWE and the people own themselves. This story will contain bad language, so fair warning to all.**

A/N: So this is a new one from me. I asked a friend what couple I should write and she suggested this one, so yeah, never written Maria and never really written Jeff, so let's see how this goes. Let me know if you like it or not, be brutal if you want. Enjoy, hopefully! :)

* * *

Maria felt like she was back in high school. She knew it was a silly comparison, but walking down concrete-lined hallways, doors leading to places unknown, it was all so high school. Add in some lockers and the desolate picture would be complete. She might as well be holding a bunch of books in her hand, looking around for her classroom instead of a duffel bag. She sighed and looked around, trying to find the women's locker room. There were people milling about, but they looked busy and she hesitated to ask them something that was probably so obvious. She didn't want to look stupid.

She knew that people tended to blur the line between character and reality. A lot of the negativity towards her intelligence probably came from the way she looked. But then, that could probably be said of most divas. She certainly looked the part of the ditz, but she wasn't. No, she wasn't looking to join Mensa any time soon, but she also wasn't as stupid as her character had dictated.

She had been trying, at least a little, to distance herself from that persona. She knew that people were still going to see her as that ditzy girl from Raw, but she was trying to shed herself of that image. She had brought up with creative the fact that she didn't _only_ want to be classified as that character, no matter how well they thought she played it. They had been mildly receptive and had allowed her not to be totally presented as an idiot, but more like just a sweet person who was a little naïve.

She wished now, as she walked down the hallway, that she had made her debut right after the draft shake-up. She felt completely out of the loop since they had decided to hold off her debut on SmackDown. She was actually really surprised she was sent over here in the first place. She'd had no idea, but apparently, only the most higher-up wrestlers knew they were moving beforehand. Everyone else it was pretty much a surprise and a shove in the direction of your new show. She was completely disoriented that evening, wondering what this would do for her career, if anything.

If there was one thing she was happy about with this switch over to SmackDown it was the fact she wouldn't have to be around her ex. It had been hard enough being on the same show as he was, so being far away from him, working on different days, was actually a blessing. It wasn't that she hadn't moved on from him. She had certainly forgotten about him, but the damage of the relationship had been done and she was glad for the fresh start.

She finally found the women's locker room and pushed her way inside. There was a bit of chatter going around, groups of women talking with one another. She noticed the room got quiet as she walked in. What a nightmare. She gave what she hoped was a friendly smile and found a spot where she could put her things. She had a match against Victoria tonight. She looked around to see if Victoria was there so they could speak about their match, but she was nowhere to be found.

Diva locker rooms were a different animal altogether. If guys were protective about their spots on a roster, the divas were even more paranoid about theirs. For that reason alone she knew her presence wasn't wanted here. It was weird because it wasn't like she had changed companies, lost a job and then started up somewhere else. This was the _same_ company, just a different brand and yet she felt completely like an outsider. She got dressed quickly, not wanting to spend time in here. When her back was turned she could feel the eyes on her from the other divas and yes, this was just an uncomfortable situation.

She threw on a sweatshirt to keep her warm and then left the locker room, the noise rising up as soon as they thought the door was closed. She could just imagined whispered tones of assessment and ultimately disapproval from the other divas in that locker room. Let them be paranoid though, she'd just do her job and blow them away. She'd been training hard in the interim between being drafted and this evening. She had wrestled before that, sure, but now she was getting more confident with her skills. She'd prove to them all that she wasn't just a pretty face.

She walked down the hall with no particular destination. She figured she should try and get acquainted with the buzz of this show. Maybe it'd be the same as Raw, maybe it'd be different. She guessed it would be a slightly more relaxed atmosphere, what with SmackDown being pre-taped and Raw being live. There was a certain franticness to Raw because everything had to go perfectly or the live audience would know something was wrong. With SmackDown, there was on the crowd to worry about and they probably understood that things could or would be changed later if they didn't turn out as hoped.

"Maria?"

Maria turned around saw her boss coming towards her, "Hi, Stephanie."

"Hey," Stephanie said with a cordial smile. "I'm glad you made it, did you have any trouble getting here?"

"None at all," Maria told her.

"Good, good," Stephanie said, through with the idle chit-chat. "I'm sure you know what you're doing tonight, right, you were informed?"

"Yeah, I was informed, I have a match with Victoria."

"Yeah, have you met with her to discuss it?"

"I actually just got here," Maria explained. "She wasn't in the locker room when I got here so I haven't really had a chance to talk to her."

"Oh, well, make sure you do, of course," Stephanie said and there was a tone in her voice that said she didn't want the divas to disappoint in the ring because sometimes there was a chance their match would be the weakest on the show and they needed to keep the fans invested.

"I will, don't worry," Maria nodded obediently, feeling like she was being scolded. "It'll be fine."

"Good, I'm glad you take this seriously. I just want things to run smoothly for you," she said, her tone changing slightly, making Maria think she actually cared about what happened to her.

"Yeah, of course I am."

"Good," Stephanie said.

She looked around quickly, her eyes scanning the area, prompting Maria to say, "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, everything is fine, just some people I don't really want to run in to, you know how it goes," Stephanie said, glancing around again, looking like someone who was being hunted and trying to listen for the smallest sound.

Maria, and everyone else, knew who Stephanie was talking about. She and Paul had publicly come out with their divorce not two weeks before and Maria could only guess Stephanie was trying to avoid her soon-to-be ex. She hadn't heard if the divorce was particularly messy, but still, it was awkward sometimes around your ex. She could certainly relate, though she hadn't been married like Stephanie and Paul.

"Oh, well, I can let you go then."

"Thanks, just make sure you know what you're doing," she said, giving one last reminder to Maria, patting her on the shoulder.

Maria sighed, looking around like she would find someone to speak with or talk to, but there was nobody she knew. She stuffed her hands into the front of her sweatshirt though her hands weren't cold. She felt herself leaning back against the wall, thinking about Stephanie not wanting to be around her estranged husband. She could certainly relate to that feeling. In fact, if she had actually chosen to come to SmackDown, some people could probably call it running from her past.

She didn't much care about that. Let them think what they want. She was beyond caring about him and she wondered why she had ever started in the first place. He wasn't worth her time anyways and she should just stop thinking about him altogether. Out of sight, out of mind and all that junk. Let him go off with that little slut who he cheated with, she didn't care about him anymore.

"Can you believe they brought her over here?" Maria easily recognized the accent as Maryse.

"I don't know why." She had a harder time placing that voice.

"It makes us look bad, you know, like we need help over here or something. Like oh, that Maria is so popular or something, we should put her over there with those lame divas."

"Okay, that's a little harsh," the other woman laughed.

"Well, I don't like it and I don't like her."

"I don't know, I don't know her yet."

"You can't like her, she's probably just like how she is on TV," Maryse said and Maria scoffed silently. She wanted to slap Maryse right this second, but she had a little more decorum than that.

"Maybe, she hasn't disproven it." Well that was decidedly snobby.

"Exactly, she is stupid. We should ignore her," Maryse said.

Maria left before she could hear anymore. This really was high school and those were the mean girls. They were adults and yet still, they acted like children most of the time. She could be part of the roster very easily, she thought herself a nice person, she could've been a part of it without trouble, but no, they had to be juvenile. Now who was that ditz? At least she didn't seek to exclude people.

She already felt out of place and this was just amplifying it so much. She spotted Victoria up ahead reading a magazine. She walked over quickly, calling out the woman's name. Victoria looked and gave a short smile. Maria welcomed it greatly because it was the first genuine one she'd seen yet.

"Hey, I wanted to discuss our match."

"Yeah, sure, have a seat," Victoria said. Maria sat next to her and they started to plot out their match.

Luckily for her, Victoria didn't subscribe to the crap the other divas did and seemed to be more interested in putting on an entertaining show. She was thankful that she at least had maybe, sort of, kind of an ally here, at least someone she might be able to talk to and not feel like she was barging in on anything.

"You look bummed or something, what's up?"

"Nothing," Maria said, "just kind of feeling out of place is all."

"Oh, don't let those others get to you, trust me on that one," Victoria said. "I've got to go, I wanted to call someone, but seriously, they're all just jealous bitches."

Maria laughed, "Thanks, I needed to hear that."

"Why do you think I was out here?" she asked. "I can't stand to be in there for more than five minutes at a time before I start wanting to put some real fighting maneuvers on them."

"Maybe we should team up."

"Yeah, that'd take them by surprise," Victoria said with a laugh.

Maria definitely felt better after that and with a renewed kind of confidence, she stood up and started walking, going over the match in her head. She liked to visualize her matches ahead of time so she could go out there and perform at her best. She wasn't paying attention and all of a sudden, someone grabbed her by the shoulders and gently pushed her to the right.

"You were just about to run into that."

Maria looked over her shoulder at Jeff Hardy. His hair was slightly falling in his face and he had a warm smile gracing his lips. She looked ahead of her again and saw she had nearly run right into a huge trunk. How she didn't see that, she didn't know, it was as plain as day.

"Thanks," she said softly.

"Well, I wouldn't want you breaking your leg or something before you even have one match here," he said, coming around the front to face her. "Not quite the welcome you probably would've seen coming."

"No, no, it wouldn't have been," Maria said. She found herself smiling at Jeff. She didn't really know him that well, except for the couple times he had hung out with Punk, when she had been dating Punk over a year ago. He seemed like a nice guy. The world was lacking in nice guys. "Thanks."

"No problem," he told her. "Just watch where you're going."

"Kind of funny coming from you," she joked.

"Wow, I save your life and that's how I'm treated?"

"You think that was saving my life?"

"Saving your face then," he drawled. "When I take risks, I know about them."

"I suppose you do. Don't worry, I'll watch where I'm going from now on. I'll take your advice," she said with a smile.

He winked, "Good."

"Thanks again." Jeff gave her a wave and started practically skipping backwards down the hallway.

"Welcome to SmackDown."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews for this one, I'm glad people are intrigued and don't think it sucks! That's a definite plus. Anyways, for those that aren't really familiar, I update on a rotating basis with my stories (except for the monster one) and I always update on Monday night/Tuesday morning, so you can pretty easily see when I update, in case you haven't put this on story alert.

Also, just want to dedicate this chapter to a friend of mine who's in the hospital and loves my stories so this one's for them. :)

* * *

She would like to think it was getting better, but it wasn't.

Sure, onscreen it was all fun and giggles and the fans were none the wiser, but as they say, looks can be deceiving and in this case they were exceptionally deceiving. Maria thought herself a nice person. She wouldn't say she was a saint or even a goody-two-shoes, but a bad person, no, she didn't think she was. Therefore, she didn't know why she was being subjected to this kind of behavior.

It wasn't like they were teasing her or anything, it was nothing like that. If they had been, she could just write it off as childish behavior. As it was, it was still childish, but it hurt a little more than just teasing. She was practically ignored backstage. The company higher-ups, management as they were called, seemed to like her over on SmackDown. She was doing her job well and she was getting commended for it.

Add on top of that the news she had gotten earlier from the only friend she thought she really had here and she was not enjoying her time on SmackDown.

"_Hey there, girl," Victoria said, placing her plate on the table before she took a seat. "You look like a lost little kid."_

"_I feel like it," Maria said, pushing around the chicken on her plate. She'd eaten some, but she didn't really have an appetite right now. She had a match later and she had some weird thing where she couldn't eat before her matches. She'd go out there and feel like she was going to throw up and if she had a bad reputation around the divas now she could only imagine how bad it would be if she threw up on one of them. She'd be laughed right out of the locker room. Although there was the appeal of humiliating one of the other divas that obviously hated her._

"_Oh, come on, you don't feel _that_ bad, do you?"_

_Maria shrugged, she wasn't in the mood for words, "I guess not."_

"_It won't be so bad. People change, things change around here. I've been around here long enough to know that. The vibe is constantly changing."_

"_Yeah, you would know, I guess."_

"_Of course I do," she told her, taking a big bite out of her food. Victoria chewed thoughtfully and then swallowed. "Speaking of that."_

"_Speaking of what?" Maria asked._

"_Well, I mean, just like, how long I've been around," Victoria said. "It's been a long time, I'm lucky I've lasted this long really, especially with all the firings and everything. It's just been lucky that I've either been good enough to stay or flown under the radar."_

"_Yeah, I guess everyone who's not one of the big guys can say that."_

"_Yeah, especially divas though, because our shelf lives are so short, well, mostly," she laughed, referring to herself._

"_What are you getting at?" Maria asked, sensing that this was not the end of the conversation by any means and that Victoria was actually going somewhere with this train of thought._

"_I'm thinking about retiring," Victoria said bluntly and later, she knew, when she was over the news, she would appreciate Victoria's candor with her. _

"_Retiring?" Maria said on the verge of stuttering the word._

"_Yeah, I've got other interests and well, I've been considering it," Victoria said._

"_Why? You're great," Maria said._

"_I know you don't want me to leave--"_

"_I don't."_

"_I'm still just considering it, okay?"_

"_Okay," Maria said sullenly and that sick feeling in her stomach was rising again, like flood waters rising up and threatening to spill over the land. _

"What are you even doing here tonight, man, you don't even have to be here," Jeff said, looking over at his friend.

"I have a reason for being here tonight," Chris said. "It's not like this is a different company, right? I don't even need a visitor's pass because I still work here."

Jeff looked over at him skeptically, "Well, let's see, you either go home and actually get to relax or travel? I don't know, man, seems like a pretty stupid choice."

"Maybe I just want to see what's going on over here," Chris said.

"You have a reason for being here," Jeff said.

Chris smirked to himself, "Of course I have a _reason_, but…hey, Maria."

Maria looked up from the crate she had been resting on. "Chris, what are you doing here?"

Chris was a familiar face. The guy was one of those people who everyone liked, well, mostly everyone. There were always rumors circulating about some sort of hatred between Chris and some of the other main event guys, but she wasn't one to listen to gossip. Chris was always really nice to everyone so she couldn't imagine anyone not liking the man. It was nice to see someone nice. He was with Jeff too, who had proven to be a very good guy, at least in her estimation.

"I'm just here to see what it's like," he said defensively.

Maria looked to Jeff and he shrugged, "He's being deliberately vague."

"I'm not being vague. Is it a crime to come see people?" he asked. "Maybe I came to see you, Jeff, did you think of that?"

"You didn't come to see me," Jeff shook his head. Maria giggled for some reason and he looked over at her. "What's so funny?"

"You're just so sure about that," Maria said with a laugh. "I don't know, it was just really kind of cute."

"Cute, I'm cute?"

"Yeah, it was cute."

"Did you hear that, Jeffy, you're so cute," Chris said in a high-pitched voice.

"Shut up," Jeff said, rolling his eyes, "So what's up, Maria? You looked kind of upset or something? Is something bothering you?"

"It's nothing, Vic was just telling me that she's thinking about retiring, so I'm a little bummed about that," Maria said, trying to put on her best smile. She couldn't help but feel like she was being abandoned by her only friend. She didn't want to be thrown to the wolves if Victoria left. The other divas did show her a kind of respect and as long as Maria hung out with her, the others kind of left her alone. Without Victoria, that would surely change.

"Oh wow, that sucks," Jeff said. He turned to Chris, "Maria's been having a little trouble with the other divas."

"Trouble?" Chris asked.

"They're just being bitches," Maria said, trying to play it off. "You know, it's probably some sort of weird hazing, trying to see if I'm worthy or something of being here, I don't know."

"That's not cool," Chris said, pointing out the quite obvious.

"You think I don't know that," she scoffed.

"Don't worry," Jeff told her, "things will get better for you, I'm sure. What do they know anyways?"

"I don't know," Maria said. She was just feeling so lost in this moment. She didn't like it here, but she felt like if she said she didn't like it, things would get worse. If she ignored the situation as much as she could, then it might not exist. If she kept everything insular, then it wouldn't start invading her life. She felt compelled to ask whether or not they thought Stephanie would grant her the chance to go back to Raw, but that felt like giving up. She wasn't a quitter, she wouldn't be here if she was a quitter.

"If you want to talk," Jeff told her. "I'll listen."

"That's really nice of you," Maria told him. "I mean, I don't really need to talk, I'm fine. I'm just bummed that Vic could be leaving, that's all."

"You're sure?" Jeff asked, concerned for her. He wouldn't say he and Maria were friends exactly, but he liked the woman and if she was upset about something, he felt like he could offer her an ear if he wanted to talk.

"Maria, schedule," Stephanie said as she handed Maria a schedule for the evening. "We switched your match with the Jimmy Wang Yang and Big Show match. Oh, hey, Jeff, did you get a schedule at all?"

"No, I don't think so," Jeff said as Stephanie thrust a schedule in her direction. "Question, Stephanie, why are you working SmackDown now?"

"Dad started having Tuesday meetings at Titan so I'm taking over for the foreseeable future. It's not forever, but for now, I'm in charge around here," Stephanie explained. Jeff nodded like he understood, but he was just curious. "So you've got the schedule now, be prepared of course, and…Chris, what are you doing here?"

Chris ran a hand through his hair, "Hey, Steph, I was just visiting with people around here, you know how it goes."

"No, no, I don't, but okay," she said, "you're not scheduled though, right? Because then I'd have to talk to someone about informing me of these things. I mean, you're not feuding with anyone so you have no reason to be here, right?"

"Nope, nope, not me, not on the show," he told her. "I'm just visiting."

"Okay, fine, later guys," she said, walking off as Chris watched her surreptitiously. When he turned back to Jeff and Maria, they were looking at him questioningly.

"What?" he asked, looking between the both of them.

"I think we just figured out who you came to visit," Jeff chuckled.

"What are you talking about?" Chris scoffed. "You think I came here to see Stephanie?"

"Yes," Maria nodded. "I think that was pretty obvious.

"Okay, look, she's divorced now, I'm divorced now, what sounds better than two recent divorcees getting together? I think it sounds absolutely perfect and you know I've always really wanted to get with her, but she's always been so unattainable, so sue me."

"Okay, we were just observing, weren't we, Maria?" Jeff said.

"Just observing," she parroted.

"You guys suck," he said.

"And on that note, I'm going, I've got a match so you know, I do want to limber up a little," Maria said, giving a little wave and leaving.

"Dude, if I'm lusting after Stephanie, you're sure as hell lusting after _that_," Chris said. "Don't even try to deny it either because from where I'm sitting, it's pretty damn obvious."

Jeff was the one who shook his head now. "Stephanie's turned your brain to mush, man. I'm not lusting after Maria. She's a sweet girl and she's having a hard time trying to adjust to the differences in the show."

"Like what?"

"Because she's around women she wasn't around before and she didn't really know anyone, that's what," Jeff told him.

"Yeah, she's sweet and all that and you _want_ her."

"I wonder how Steph would like to know how you feel," Jeff said.

"You wouldn't dare, that's not you, Jeff Hardy."

"Okay, maybe it's not, but I don't want Maria, I mean, I like her and all that and she's really pretty," he said, then paused for just a moment, but it was a moment Chris noticed and smirked at, "really pretty, but still, I don't want her."

"You want her," Chris said definitively.

"No, I don't."

"Just admit it," Chris laughed.

"I don't know her."

"So get to know her," Chris said, "that's what I'm doing with Steph. I'm going to get to know her in a non-business setting, you should do the same with Maria. Get to know her. I bet you'll like her. Besides, she could probably use a good guy like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, word gets around and well, seems her last break-up was a little bit on the messy side. I'm not saying everything I heard was true, because well, you know how wrestlers are, but things do get around, you know."

"I didn't even know she was with someone over there. Wait, it was Punk, right?"

"No, after Punk."

"I didn't know she was with anyone, she had a boyfriend? He broke her heart?"

"So I heard."

"Who was it?"

"John Cena."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I'm sorry it's been forever since I updated this, I kind of lost inspiration, but thank you for the reviews. I've kind of gotten the ideas back for this story, so hopefully I can update it regularly. I hope you enjoy the chapter and reviews are always loved and appreciated. :)

* * *

"Maria and John Cena?"

"That's what I heard and know, people saw them together...after the shows. They didn't really do anything during the shows."

"Maria and John _Cena_?"

"_Yes_," Chris told him. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

"I just can't believe they dated," Jeff said. "I mean, I don't know, I just don't picture Maria, sweet, kind Maria with a guy like that."

"A guy like...you're going to have to elaborate on me here, Jeff, because I'm not seeing what you're seeing."

Jeff pictured Cena. It wasn't that he didn't like the guy. He didn't know him well enough to make any kind of opinion of him. They'd worked together in the same company, but they'd never hung out, never really had a conversation of any kind and they certainly traveled in different circles. But if he was basing it on first impressions and overall demeanor, John Cena kind of seemed like a douchebag. The kind of guy who you could find with a beer in his hand at every frat party. Jeff wasn't that kind of guy, but Cena seemed like he was.

"I don't know," Jeff finally said, "I mean, you know him better than me, right?"

"We've talked, I mean, we did have feuds together, so yeah, we talked, but I wouldn't call myself friends with the guy."

"That right there," Jeff said, pointing at Chris.

Sometimes Chris really didn't understand Jeff. It must be that "whole free spirit, do what you want to do" thing that Jeff had capitalized on through his whole career. Sometimes Jeff would just start waxing poetic, talking about how the wind was like the soul at death, blowing through the air like a jellyfish in the open sea. Now Chris was a song-writer and had written what he felt to be deep, meaningful lyrics, but he never talked about things like Jeff talked about things so he really believed this was just one of those times.

"What right there?"

"That, what you said."

"What did I say?" Chris asked, wondering if he'd said something that would've triggered such a response.

"Not being friends with the guy."

"What about it?"

"You're friends with everyone, if you aren't friends with the guy, he's probably not a good guy, right? You're friends with all the good guys."

"I'm not friends with _everyone_," Chris said. "Yeah, people like me or whatever, but I wouldn't say that I'm friends with everyone. John and I just don't have a lot of stuff in common, that's all, I mean, I don't think I'd like him now or anything, but you know, never-mind."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't like to gossip usually." It was true, Chris was one of the least gossipy people there was. He'd shown that well enough when he'd taken his break from the company. He probably had a million opportunities to shoot on the people he didn't like, call them out for what they were, but he hadn't. He never had really and that was commendable, but right now, Jeff wanted nothing more than for Chris to gossip.

"Just spit it out."

"Well, fine, don't let me build up suspense or anything," Chris scoffed. "Anyways, I heard, like I said before, that it was a particularly messy break-up and not on her part, but on his part."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, it kind of blindsided her is what I'm saying. Like she thought everything was going just fine and then he comes in and tells her he's breaking up with her and then it's over, just like that. You know, total bush league kind of stuff."

"Wow, but why would he just dump her like that? She's a really good person and she's really sweet and pretty and--"

"Wow, someone's observant," Chris said with a smirk. It was just so overwhelmingly obvious that Jeff liked Maria. If he didn't know he liked Maria he needed to get a slap in the head because Chris could see it as clear as day. If he thought he had it bad for Stephanie, it seemed like Jeff was twice as bad if not more.

"I'm just saying, anyone who knows her knows that. I don't know why these bitches around here treat her like she's some outcast when she's been around longer than some of them have."

Chris shrugged, "I don't know, because she's from the Diva Search, maybe?"

"There are other girls here from that and they aren't treated as badly," Jeff pointed out.

"Well what do you think I am, a mind-reader?" Chris asked, exasperated by Jeff's line of questioning. "Anyways, I heard that he broke up with her because he was cheating on her with another diva. I don't know which diva, but I've got suspicions."

"Like who?"

"Well, John and Mickie dated pretty close after the whole John and Maria debacle, so good money's on her, that's what everyone else thinks too and if you know Mickie's background, I wouldn't say that it's out of the realm of possibility."

"Why, what's in Mickie's background?"

"Well, she just seemed kind of...well, easy, I guess is the best word for it. Anyways, I don't know, I don't think I'd put it past her to help someone cheat on someone else. So it's probably true. Anyways, I heard that John wanted Mickie instead of Maria and was pretty blatant about it after the fact. Like he dumped Maria and then he would prance around with Mickie on his arm, just to rub it in and Mickie had no problem with it since she didn't care, you know what I mean."

"That's really horrible to do," Jeff said, "plus, who would want Mickie over Maria?"

"I don't know, people, I'm sure there are some people who would prefer Mickie over Maria, of course, I don't know why anyone would want anyone over Stephanie, but that's just me. I mean, have you _seen_ Stephanie. Actually, don't look at her, I don't want you falling for my future woman."

"You're getting awfully presumptuous don't you think?" Jeff said, his mind still on Maria. He was truthful when he said that he didn't know why someone would want Mickie over Maria. Maria was just so down-to-earth. That part of her didn't really get a chance to shine when she was in front of the cameras, but he saw it every time he talked to her backstage. There was such a dissonance between her character and her actual person and it was an intriguing thing. She was very good at what she did and made looking like a slight ditz very believable when he believed her anything but.

"I'm not being presumptuous, I'm just saying what I know to be true. I have to go into this with a positive attitude or I'm never going to get her," Chris said, obviously trying to psych himself up for what he wanted to do. "I don't want to scare her off though, I'm going for subtle, but I have to make quick work of it."

"Why?"

"Because you never know who is going to go after her. What if some other guy goes after her and she agrees to date him before I even ask? Do you understand how embarrassing that would be? I don't think you do, but it would be. Who knows, there could be some guy around here that is plotting the same way I am, not that I'm really plotting or anything, just...observing what I want, really."

"Okay, you call it what you want."

"You should definitely do the same thing with Maria. She's pretty gorgeous, not as much as Stephanie, but enough, you know, for guys to want her. Plus, she's actually really nice, do you talk to her a lot?"

"I talk to her enough," Jeff admitted. He didn't talk to her as much as he might like, but if the females around here were giving her trouble, he was going to make sure she wasn't alone to experience that again. He didn't think the divas would be so catty if he was around and if they were, well, they'd deal with that when they came to that. Nobody deserved to be bullied, especially not when they were adults. People needed to learn how to grow up.

"You don't know who else might want her. I don't know that she'd go with them if the things with John are true, but you never know what could be true or not, you know, so she might be perfectly okay. I'm just saying."

"You talk too much," Jeff said. He was a man of less words, but Chris could talk for hours if you let him and more often than not, the conversation would swing to him over and over again.

"I know, I'm heading out, you do what you want to do, good luck, I'm going after my future lady."

"Really shouldn't jinx yourself by calling her that."

"Just speaking the truth," Chris said as he walked away.

Jeff thought back to what Chris said about Maria and John Cena. He knew that Maria was too good for that guy. John just didn't seem the type who would be good for a girl like Maria. John was always on, he never seemed to stop being John Cena whereas Jeff was the opposite, sometimes he wanted to escape being Jeff Hardy. This clashed horribly with his appearance, which he was known for. It was hard to remain incognito with his tattoos and penchant for multi-colored hair. But still, he liked being home and doing his own thing, as opposed to John, who seemed to just like being out all the time.

That kind of person couldn't appreciate Maria. Okay, so he was sort of admitting to himself that his feelings for Maria had gone past friendship stage. Sure, he still considered her a friend, but he'd been lying to himself thinking that was all he wanted from her. He just liked...her. She was a sweet person and someone who he'd like to get to know better. Maybe Chris was right, maybe he should try and go after that and see what happened. It couldn't hurt and Jeff was never one afraid of rejection. He just went with the flow and if the flow went against him, he'd find another spot that suited him more, what did he really have to lose?

Another person who didn't have much to lose was looking for the woman he wouldn't mind losing it with. Chris rounded the corner and saw Stephanie up ahead, talking with one of the production people. She was laughing while explaining something and then the woman left and Stephanie was all alone. Chris cleared his throat a little and blew his breath into his hand, smelling it. It smelled fine, but he took a mint out of his pocket and popped it in his mouth anyways. Better safe than sorry.

"Stephanie!"

"Hey, you," she said, walking over. "Still not on the show, right? You didn't have a sudden want to be on the show, I know you, you'd love to talk out there."

He chuckled. "I would, definitely, but no, I just wanted to say hi, you know, see how you were doing."

"I'm fine, great actually. The show is running smoothly, what more could I really want?" she smiled.

"Not much," he said, though if she'd said him, he'd have no problem with that.

"So did you visit who you wanted to visit?"

"Yeah, actually, I was talking with Jeff about Maria and you know, what happened between her and John on Raw."

Stephanie got a sympathetic look on her face, "Oh, you mean with her and John...and Mickie?"

"Yeah, you heard it too."

"Of course I did, it deflected attention away from me and Paul for a few moments, which was nice."

"Oh yeah, those rumors."

"Oh yes, all of them so wonderfully true, how he was cheating on me with Barbie and then it became Melina and then inexplicably people were saying he'd hooked back up with Joanie and then the real kicker, that Paul had revealed to me he was gay and Shawn was his lover."

"That's not true, right?"

Stephanie guffawed, "No, that's not true. We just weren't happy, the old run-of-the-mill irreconcilable differences, that's all."

"Sounds like my marriage...or lack their of now."

"Oh yeah, you've boarded the divorce train too."

"Yeah, but I was talking with Jeff about Maria. I think he likes her as something more than a friend."

"Oh wow, they'd be cute together."

"Yeah, I...I think so too...are you dating anyone?"

"_Me_? Yeah, right. Who is going to want to date a woman recently divorced with two children under the age of four?" Chris cleared his throat and looked down, then back up at her face, making sure he made eye contact with her.

"I do."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for the reviews for this one! Seriously, I'm so pleased people like this story, especially because I'm not used to writing either Jeff or Maria, let alone Jeff/Maria so the reviews are really helpful. And a big HEY to all the readers who have never read my other stuff, I hope you're liking my style. Leave a review if you want, they're awesome. :)

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Jeff rubbed his hands together nervously. Why he was nervous, he couldn't really tell you because he didn't really know why he was nervous either. He wasn't the type of guy who got nervous, it wasn't in his DNA, he figured, because he'd always been willing to do the craziest stunts and moves and generally crazy things ever since they'd been children. It was probably partially his brother's fault for always daring him to do things. But this wasn't something he had to be nervous about. It was just Maria.

Ever since his talk with Chris a couple weeks before, he'd started to look at Maria differently. She'd been hurt by someone and he felt sympathetic towards her, but he wouldn't call what he felt sympathetic. He wouldn't call it like either, despite anything Chris said. Well, maybe he liked her a little, just a little, as a friend really, nothing more, just a friend. Maybe the nerves were because he feared he'd blurt out something about John Cena or Mickie and embarrass her. But he was a guy of few words and not often did he let the wrong ones slip out.

"Hey, Maria," he said as he came upon her reading a book in the catering area.

She looked up, "Oh hey, Jeff."

"You're reading…" What the hell was that?

"I read," she said defensively. "I know how to read, you know." She looked a little stricken, like he'd insulted her and he imagined that people probably thought she was illiterate or something because she wasn't always on top of things or solving equations or something MENSA-like like that.

"I know, I'm sorry, no, that's not what I meant," he told her quickly, "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant at all, I just kind of wanted to know what you were reading, I mean, I just, I'm not much of a reader, but I thought I'd just ask so I wouldn't bug you."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she blushed, looking down in embarrassment. She shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that. "I just get defensive, I'm sorry. I'm reading _The Shining_, I've read it before, but it's one of my favorite books."

"You like scary books."

"Sometimes, I just happen to like this one," she said. "It's really creepy. So…what's up?"

"Not much, you know, hanging around until I have to go out for my match, you know how it goes," he said, wondering why he kept saying "you know." It was like he was trying to fill awkward gaps with that phrase and he wished he'd stop saying it already.

"Cool, I'm not on the show tonight, I bet it makes the other divas around here happy. I heard them talking about me in the showers earlier. I went into the locker room to get my book and I guess they were in there gossiping or something and looking over the schedule and I heard them say how happy they were I wasn't going to be messing up the show and dumbing it down ten IQ points."

"That's rude," Jeff said.

"It's life," she shrugged. She was trying to take the nonchalant approach now. She didn't want this to bother her so much and she had to toughen up because Victoria was going to be leaving. When she looked at her situation a couple days ago, she realized she'd been hiding behind Victoria ever since she'd gotten to this brand. Victoria was tough and she didn't take crap from anyone and that's why nobody messed with her. Maria wanted to be like that. She just wanted to stride in somewhere and command that kind of respect, but she was meek and doughy and not at all tough like Victoria was.

"Yeah, but still, their being awful to you. You should go to management."

"Jeff, if you were going through the same thing, would _you_ go to management?" she asked him.

"Hell no," he responded without even thinking, "but this is the divas, you know."

"We're not a different species," she laughed, "it's the same thing for us. You can't just go to management unless you want to get a bitchslap or something like that. You don't do that kind of thing. The guys wouldn't, the girls wouldn't, the same rules apply."

"Sorry, I'm not up on my diva etiquette," he joked and made her laugh a little. "So…"

"So…" she echoed, looking at him like he was going to say something, which he was, he just had to get it out.

"So Raw on Monday is three hours long."

"I know."

"Yeah, so everyone has to be there."

"I know," Maria said, "I was planning on being there. I probably won't be on the show, but you never know I guess. I was at the meeting earlier so I heard it all."

Jeff laughed at himself, "Sorry, of course you were, I'm just acting like an idiot."

"No, you're not, not to me, but then if someone were here they'd be like, 'of course she doesn't think he's an idiot because she's a bigger idiot so he looks like a genius to her.'"

"People suck," he told her and she nodded eagerly. "Anyways, what I was thinking was if you didn't have a ride to the show, maybe you'd accept a ride from me."

"To Raw?"

"Well, yeah, to Raw, but I was thinking that we could drive together from Raw to SmackDown since we're going to have to be on both."

"Yeah, yes, I'd like that," she smiled at him and he smiled back and nodded. "Thanks for the offer. Will we be riding with your brother too or is he not going to be there?"

"Probably just to Raw, but then not to SmackDown, I mean, I know he's on ECW, but he likes to leave that night and I'm not the type to just go, I'd rather sleep and then go in the morning, you know." God, would he just stop saying that?

"Yeah, I get it, well, thanks," she said, starting to get up, but Jeff put his hand on her arm to stop her and she looked over at him in question, slowly going down again

"Hey, I know that this is going to sound weird and intrusive, but are you going to be okay at Raw?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

"Well, um, I heard some stuff about you and…John Cena."

Maria blinked, trying to put on a brave face. She hadn't even thought of John being at Raw, but she was certainly thinking about it now. Not that she hated Jeff for bringing it up, it was just she'd tried so hard to move past it. That was one of the reasons she was thankful she'd been moved to SmackDown, it meant she didn't have to be around John and Mickie all the time. She knew the rumors swirling around about them and they were actually mostly true. She and John had been dating and happy and then one day, he was dating Mickie and had barely told her at all, just saying that he was dumping her and he'd found someone better.

She'd never figured him to be a callous man, but he'd dumped her like she was a candy bar wrapper and he'd moved onto something sweeter. Mickie had a bad reputation around here, everyone knew it, but she pranced around like she was the best thing to ever grace the entire company, completely ignoring the ugly rumors that followed her around like an aura. She was the type of girl who, when she saw something she liked, had to have it for herself and she'd seen Maria and John and decided she'd be her next target.

"Oh…yeah…"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up," Jeff said contritely. Why had he done that? He could tell from her face that it still upset her so obviously some of those rumors he'd heard were true. He didn't want to hurt her.

"It's okay," she said, touching his arm. He looked down at her hand. "It's just still kind of a sore subject, I guess."

"I'm really sorry, you probably weren't even thinking about it and I brought it up."

"It's really okay," she nodded. "Look, it happened, I understand that…you know how you have a break-up and it's totally mutual and you just go your separate ways?"

"Yeah, the best kind of break-up."

"I had that with Punk, that was good, but John, it was like the complete opposite and I guess I just have to get over that. I'm almost there, I guess, I just, there's this feeling of betrayal that sticks around when you've been cheated on and in the way that they did it, it almost makes it worse."

"Did you…no, sorry, I shouldn't ask."

"Well, to clear up any rumors, yeah, I did walk in on them. Mickie wanted it that way. She told me later, when John wasn't around, bragged about. She told me that she'd thought John was a hot, well, the f-word, and she'd wanted to see for herself and it was just too bad I had to be in the way, but she wanted to make it clear that John liked her better so she pretty much set it up so I would walk in and see them. Of course, John doesn't know about this, but it still makes him a jerk for cheating on me."

"I can't believe she'd say those things to you," Jeff said, appalled at Mickie's behavior.

"I can, she's really just mean," Maria said, not mincing words. She shrugged. "I'll get over it eventually. I better go, I'll talk to you later, Jeff."

He'd blown it by making her talk about it. Now he felt horrible. Why had he even brought up John and made her think about what happened with the two of them? From the sounds of it, John was just as bad as Mickie. Mickie must have made a very convincing argument for John to just go over to her. He hadn't asked about the flaunting issue, but he hadn't needed to, the mere fact that Mickie would say those things to Maria and then set it up so she'd walk in on them told him everything he needed to know about Mickie's character. Seemed she was more like that crazy character she'd debuted with than anyone knew. Now Maria was off somewhere, walking around, completely alone and isolated and probably _sad_ and it was all his fault for bringing something up. He was an idiot.

"Hey, Jeff, what's up, man?"

"Chris, leave me alone."

"Oh, believe me, I won't be bugging you, we're just getting something to drink because someone is thirsty."

"And someone has to hurry because I've only got a two and a half minute commercial break," another voice said.

"I know, I'm hurrying," Chris told her.

"You okay, Jeff?" Stephanie asked.

"Yeah, fine," he said, looking up at them. Chris had his arm around Stephanie's waist and he looked like the cat who had caught the canary. According to Chris, he'd asked Stephanie out the other week and she'd accepted and now they were dating. As simple as that, no drama, no hysterics, just a simple, normal thing.

"You don't look okay," she said.

"I am, I just…was acting like an ass."

"Sounds like this guy," Stephanie said, pressing her hand to Chris's waist.

"Do you see how my girlfriend talks to me?" Chris said, acting aghast.

"Girlfriend?" she asked.

"Well you're not my boyfriend," Chris told her, kissing her temple. "But fine, almost girlfriend because someone doesn't want to say that we're exclusive yet because someone is probably playing the field behind my back."

"You can't be my boyfriend until you meet the girls."

"Newsflash, met them," Chris told her.

"Officially, you know, or until I meet your girls and Ash, until we all meet," she laughed.

"So you're saying this Thursday, we will officially be dating?"

"Yes, I can't wait, I think Aurora is going to love having new friends, she's quite the social butterfly," Stephanie said smugly. She checked her watch. "Damn it, Chris, I've got like thirty seconds to get back. I've got to go."

"Don't blame me!" he said. "I'll meet you there."

"Bye," Stephanie said, kissing the corner of his mouth. "Bye, Jeff."

"Bye."

Chris watched her run over to the cooler and grab a water before running back out to get back to the table so she could direct the announcers again. It was only until she was out of eyesight that Chris sat down next to Jeff with a contented sigh. "So what's up?"

"So you look pretty satisfied with yourself."

"And why shouldn't I be? Stephanie is even more awesome than I knew she was going to be. And there's no awkwardness because we were friends first and our kids are probably going to get along because my girls and Aurora are the same age, they're like a week apart and well, Ash is used to a lot of little girls around, maybe he can occupy Murphy's time and things are awesome. Best decision I ever made."

Jeff laughed, "You're way too cocky."

"No, man, this is not cocky, this is called happy, which is more than I can say for you right now."

"I brought up John and Mickie to Maria."

"And you would do that because…"

"I'm an idiot," Jeff answered.

"Yeah, yeah, that would be so if you did that, why would you do that?"

"Because Raw on Monday is three hours and we're all required to be there and I brought up how it would be for her if she was around John again and well, you can probably tell where it went from there by looking at my face," Jeff said, giving Chris a very dour look.

"Yeah, so what was the story?"

"Mickie's a bitch, that's the story."

"You know, she does give off those vibes."

"She set it up so Maria would catch them, she just wanted to flaunt it to Maria that she could get John."

"Wow," Chris whistled. "That's low."

"And I made her relive this."

"So now you now what you have to do," Chris said with a casual shrug.

"What, no, I'm not getting you here," Jeff said.

"You have to make her forget all about John."


	5. Chapter 5

Jeff found himself staring at Mickie James.

There were a lot of reasons why he could be staring at her. She was relatively attractive, not his type at all, but relatively attractive so there could be that. She had a nice body, though her outfits were always on the side of outrageous or hideous, but the body they covered was fit and curvy. He could've been staring at her because she was right there in front of him, getting her hair done by one of the hairdressers, her eyes closed like she enjoyed being pampered and who didn't. But instead, he was trying to find the ugly side.

He was trying to find the side that had so callously treated Maria and broken her heart. He was trying to figure out why Mickie had decided to be so vindictive and to deliberately set it up so Maria would see Mickie and Cena going at it. It had to be somewhere in there, somewhere where he could see, but he wasn't seeing it at the moment. But he knew it was there. Even if he couldn't see the ugly, he could see the arrogance. There was an arrogance around Mickie that he saw with divas who dated main-eventers. He could see it most clearly with Michelle McCool, who walked around like she owned the joint because she was dating Mark. He could now see it with Mickie. She had that air of "I'm dating John Cena" wafting about it and the arrogance was unbecoming.

"What're you staring at?" his brother asked. He was here tonight and he was patting Jeff on the shoulder.

"Mickie James," Jeff said lowly so Mickie wouldn't hear, though she was far enough away she wouldn't have, but there was something about her that was conducive to whispering.

"Mickie?" Matt wondered, looking over at her for a few seconds and then looking at his brother, "Don't tell me…"

"Don't tell you what?" Jeff asked.

"That you like her," Matt responded. "Because I don't see you with someone like Mickie James, not at all."

"I'm not…I don't like her," Jeff scoffed. After the story Maria had told him, he wasn't sure Mickie could do anything to redeem herself in his eyes. He wasn't sure he wanted her to. He was fine living a Mickie-free existence. "I just don't get her."

"You don't get her?"

"Well, remember those rumors about her and Cena and Maria?"

"I think everyone heard those rumors, well, mostly everyone," Matt said, "what about them? I didn't think it mattered anymore."

"It doesn't except that Maria is still hurt by it and the rumors were true. Mickie actually set it up so Maria would catch them, can you believe that? Can you believe that she would do something like that?"

"I think you underestimate the divas around here," Matt said. "Some of them are the coolest chicks you will ever meet, then some of them, like Mickie, are the ones who will do anything they can to get to the top. And she's clearly done that."

"Yeah," Jeff said, "but at what expense?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, Maria is just…she's still hung up on that asshole," Jeff said and he could feel something rising in him, like when the tide was getting too high, pass the mark for safety. Matt was studying him, looking at him, trying to decipher him, but Jeff had always been a complex puzzle and not one easily solved.

"What's it to you?" Matt asked tentatively. Sometimes treading around Jeff was treading on a very thin layer of glass that was sure to break and shard if you stepped too hard.

"She's my friend, that's all," Jeff told him. "She's my friend and I care about her and when I brought it up with her, which I was stupid to do, she was obviously still hurting from it and I don't like seeing her that way."

"What exactly are your feelings for Maria?" he asked. He didn't exactly see Maria as his brother's type either. His ex-girlfriend had been extremely laid-back, like Jeff himself, and though he didn't know much about Maria, she didn't seem _that_ laidback, maybe a little more high maintenance than Jeff was used to.

"We're just friends," he said defensively.

"Yeah, _that_ sounds like you're really friends," Matt told him. "You like her, don't you?"

"I don't, we're just friends, that's all," Jeff told him. "She's been having a hard time over on SmackDown so I've been hanging out with her so she's not lonely."

"A hard time?"

"Some of the divas are treating her like shit," Jeff said, shaking his head. It was like Maria was taking it from all sides. He wondered if she was here yet and if she had come with anyone. He knew she had people on Raw that she was friends with so he wasn't as worried about her as he usually was, but he didn't want her to have any run-ins with Mickie or John if she could help it. He would want to be there to support her if she did run into any of them. Just as a friend of course, just as a friend.

"Jeff, earth to Jeff."

"What?" Jeff asked, irritated.

"You were zoning out, I should be used to it, but dude, whatever you decide, Maria's a pretty nice girl."

"Decide what?"

"If you actually want to do what I know you're thinking about."

"I wasn't thinking about anything."

"If I know you, Jeff, and I know you because you're my brother, you _always_ have something in your mind and right now, I think that thing is Maria."

"Did I hear my name?"

Jeff's head whipped around to see Maria behind him and she was smiling at him. Since she wasn't going to be on the show, she was just in her normal clothes, not her whore wear that some of the divas were made to wear. Her hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail and she was wearing very bare makeup, but she looked beautiful. She smiled at him and then at Matt, trying to be friendly to both of them. Then she looked past Jeff to see Mickie was sitting there and she kind of froze, her body obviously tensing.

"Hey, why don't we go somewhere and talk?" Jeff asked, standing up. Matt just watched his brother, seeing what he was going to do. He knew Jeff was lying and he wanted to see him in action.

"No, it's okay," she said, putting on a brave front that she knew from the start would be shaky at best. "We don't have to go anywhere. So how are you?"

"I'm good," Jeff said, trying to feign interest in her conversation. He kept glancing over to Mickie though, just to make sure she was being kept at bay. He was like the liontamer at the moment and Mickie the lion that he had to keep at bay.

"Good, good," Maria said, but she was as into this conversation as Jeff was. "I'm good."

"I'm glad," he said and yeah, it was getting pretty desperate now.

"So are you glad to be back on Raw?" Matt asked and Jeff glared at him. "I just mean because Jeff said that you weren't having a great time on SmackDown."

"Matt," Jeff hissed.

"Sorry," Matt said as an aside to his brother. "Sorry, Maria, I…I think I'm just going to go, I'll see you later, bro."

"Later," Jeff said, then turned to Maria, "I'm sorry about him, I was just telling him how it was a little hard for you to adjust over there, not that you were having problems or whatever, I wasn't trying to rat out your situation or anything."

"It's okay, you're brothers, brothers talk with each other, right?" Maria said and then she took a small gasping breath and Jeff looked over his shoulder to see Mickie was walking over here and she looked very smug so she must have seen Maria already. Jeff grabbed Maria's hand and she looked down at it in surprise.

"Let's go."

"Okay," Maria said, her eyes still fixed on Mickie.

It was too late though, they hadn't made their escape in time. "Maria, so nice to see you," Mickie said, her false niceness dripping off her like a thick wax. "It's been such a long time since you were on Raw."

"Yeah," Maria said, looking down.

"It's really too bad, the show just isn't the same without you, John and I were just talking about that the other day," Mickie said, rubbing a little bit of the salt into the wound. Jeff was staring daggers at her and if he could shoot them from his eyes, she'd be a dead woman.

"Well, SmackDown is fine, thanks," she said, thought it wasn't and now she was feeling ostracized from Raw as well. This was the only reason she'd been glad to leave Raw. She didn't want to face Mickie or John anymore. She'd already suffered enough and she didn't need this right now or ever.

"Good, good, I mean, it was such a shame you were put onto SmackDown, I really wonder how that happened."

Something pricked in Jeff's brain at that. Surely…but no, Mickie couldn't have gotten Maria transferred over to SmackDown. She couldn't possibly have _that _kind of power, could she? Sure, she was with Cena and Cena had a lot of power around here, but he couldn't decide what shows people could be on. That was just ridiculous, but…what if he had gotten Maria put on this other show, away from her friends?

"Maria, come on, let's go," Jeff said, tugging her hand. They walked away without another word and Jeff was smart enough to know that she didn't want to talk. He left her in the capable hands of Victoria and then went to find Chris because wherever Chris was, Stephanie was sure to be close by. It had become abundantly clear that Chris wasn't going to leave Stephanie's side and he needed to talk to Stephanie.

"God, you are just the cutest," he heard Chris say and he turned a corner to see that Chris was hanging out with Stephanie's kids. Stephanie was sitting next to him and just watching as he played with Murphy, shaking a rattle at her.

Jeff walked up to Stephanie and without even saying hello said, "Did Cena get Maria sent to SmackDown?"

Stephanie looked up, startled by the intrusion. "What?" she asked, not exactly paying attention to what Jeff had demanded to know.

"Did Cena get Maria sent to SmackDown."

"Where did you get that idea?" Stephanie wondered.

"From Mickie?"

"And you trust her word?" Stephanie asked rationally.

"Oh," Jeff said, realizing his error, "so then he didn't get her sent to SmackDown in the last draft I'm guessing?"

"John Cena may be one of our biggest draws, but he doesn't get to tell us what shows people can be on, I'll tell you that right now and if he had gone to my father about this, my father would have told me about it and my father also would've laughed in his face for being utterly ridiculous."

"Sorry," Jeff mumbled, "it's just it seemed that it was something she'd done."

"You really like Maria, don't you?" Stephanie said.

"No," Jeff said.

"You're right, Chris, he's definitely in denial."

"I am not."

"And that's why you came storming over here, demanding to know answers," Chris said knowingly. "You just had to come over and know if someone had hurt her. And if Cena had, what would you have done, beat him up."

"I wouldn't have beat him up, Maria and I are just friends."

"I don't believe that one," Chris said. "Why don't you just say it? Take a minute and really think about her, just really, really think about her and then tell me you don't like her. Come on, do it, do it now."

"I just…she's just…"

"Admit it," Stephanie taunted. She was just as insufferable as her new boyfriend.

"Fine! You're right, I like her, I really like her."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry for the long wait between updates. I've been getting a lot of requests to continue this and that's really what spurned me on. I honestly thought about deleting the story because Jeff and Maria are both no longer with the company so my muses kind of disappeared, but I'm going to try very hard to finish the story so thanks for the motivation. Hope this doesn't disappoint and reviews are always welcome. Enjoy. :)

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"What are you thinking about?"

Stephanie looked over at Chris. She and the girls had flown down to Florida to spend the weekend with Chris. They weren't at the point in their relationship where she felt comfortable staying over with him so they were staying at hotel, but spent almost all their time at Chris's house. He'd set up a playground at his new house and the kids were having a blast with it. Murphy was sitting on Chris's knee as he bounced her gently.

"I was just thinking, it's what people do," she winked at him and he smiled at her. "First, I'm thinking that I like being here with you and that I could definitely get used to this somewhere down the line."

"I like that thought," Chris said.

"Second, I'm thinking of Jeff."

"Should I be worried?" he teased. She gave him a small look and he shrugged carelessly, showing he was teasing with her. "I don't know, we've only been dating for a couple weeks now, I wasn't sure if we were exclusive or not."

"What do you know about Jeff?" she asked, turning towards him and ignoring the subject he'd brought up. "I mean, what kind of man is he?"

"What do you mean what kind of man is he?"

"I mean, like, is he a good guy, bad guy, what is he like?"

"You know what he's like," Chris pointed out. "He's only been in the company how long?"

"I know what he's like professionally," she told him, "but it's not like I hang out with the wrestlers or anything, it's not like I'm in the backseat while everyone is driving to the next show."

"And yet you married one wrestler and you're dating another," Chris said, tapping his chin. She swatted at his arm and Chris held Murphy closer to him. "You wouldn't hit a man holding your baby, would you?"

"Yes, I would, I just wouldn't aim for her," Stephanie said. "You know what I mean, Chris, you know that I'm talking about what Jeff is like outside the ring, when he's not wrestling or playing his character, presumably when he's not wearing face paint and stockings on his arms."

"What would you think if I told you that he wears face paint in his free time as well?" Chris asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised," she shrugged.

Chris laughed, "He doesn't. He's a good guy, funny."

"What about the whole…you know, trouble with stuff," she said delicately, tiptoeing around the subject. Maybe it was so the kids wouldn't hear or maybe it was because it was personal stuff and she didn't feel like she should be talking about it.

"He's clean now," Chris told her, knowing what she meant and saving her from the embarrassment of saying the words. "He's not on anything, he kicked that. He's a good guy though. He cares, you know, sometimes too much, but he does care. He's a sensitive guy, though."

"So you're saying he like feels the suffering of others?"

"He's not Jesus," Chris told her as Murphy tried to stick her hands in his mouth. "What is with your kid?" He kissed her on the cheek. "You are adorable though."

"She likes you," Stephanie said. "All the McMahon-Levesque girls do."

"Lucky for me, so what's on your mind with this whole finding out how Jeff is though? What are you thinking and what's going on in that devious mind of yours?"

"Nothing," Stephanie said. "I'm not usually one to step into a situation because I hated it when anyone tried to interfere in my relationships, especially when it regarded Paul…although, I guess I really should have listened to them."

"But you got two adorable girls out of it so you can't complain too much."

"True, you've got a point there, but I hated it when people tried to tell me who and who I shouldn't date, you know," she said, glancing over at him. "I think if I talked to some people they would tell me to stay away from _you_."

"Tell me who these people are and I will beat them up," he winked at her.

She laughed, "I'm just thinking about finding out what Maria's feelings are for Jeff and if we find that they are somewhat close to what he feels for her, then maybe we can nudge them in the right direction?"

"How, by doing what?" Chris asked. "Setting up a dinner thing, inviting them both without the other knowing and then not going ourselves so they end up alone?"

"I wasn't thinking that," she said. "I mean, they only do that in movies. I'm talking about a nudge, maybe just saying that she would be interested and that he should do something about it instead of sitting on his ass and waiting for her to fall into his lap. I don't know _why_ guys do that. They just expect that a girl is going to know they're interested and then they get all huffy when some other guy, who isn't a wuss, asks them out and they wonder what they did wrong. And let me tell you right now, Chris, Maria _will_ get snatched up by some guy because she's really pretty and she's sweet on top of that."

"So if your theory holds, who was the guy just waiting for you to fall into their lap? Because I'm _obviously_ the guy with the balls to ask you out."

"Nobody," Stephanie said, "it's different for me because I've got two kids. Guys don't just fall out of the sky for me anymore. But look at you, for instance, you weren't afraid to ask me out. Is Jeff afraid?"

"He still thinks she's hung up on Cena, so I'm guessing that, yes, a part of him is a little afraid to ask her out in case she really is still in love with that jerk."

"I can't believe that the rumors are true, like every single one of them," Stephanie said, shaking her head. "Well, we've just got to find out if Maria _is_ still in love with John, though why she would be, I don't know, I mean, scum."

"Does any part of you still love Paul?"

Stephanie opened her mouth to answer quickly, then shut it when Chris raised an eyebrow at her. "I love that he gave me my daughters, so a part of me always will love him, but do I love him, _love him_, no, I don't, I'm not _in_ love with him and I think that's a huge part of why we're not together anymore. I'm not going to pry, I'm just going to find out what Maria is thinking, that's all. So come on, our kids want to play with us."

Maria was reading a magazine by herself when Stephanie saw her next. She knew that Maria was having a difficult time integrating herself into the SmackDown brand so she wasn't surprised when she found Maria alone. She looked around and catering as a whole was pretty deserted. It was still early in the day though, catering hadn't yet arrived for dinner and there were only a few coolers around with drink sitting in them, the ice melting around them. Stephanie put on her best smile and slid coolly into a seat close to Maria's.

"Hey, Maria," Stephanie said brightly, startling the other woman.

"Oh, you scared me, Steph," Maria said, "I didn't even hear you come in, you're stealthy."

"Sneakers," she said, pointing to her feet. "I don't know why everyone goes around with the perception that I walk around in high heels. I work in a business that constantly has me walking and I have two young children, high heels are the last thing on my mind."

Maria laughed, "I guess that's a good point, but I think the heels go better with the whole 'big, scary boss' persona."

"I do try to be big, scary boss," she nodded.

"So how are you and Chris?" Maria joked, giving a little shimmy as if to imply something illicit.

"We're fine."

"You two are quite the it couple," Maria said. "Everyone is talking about you. I even think there's a wedding poll going around to see when you two make it legal. So if you've got any inside information on any weddings let me know so I can put my money into the pool."

"Yes, we're thinking of marriage after two weeks. I don't know where people are getting these ideas. Wrestlers, they have nothing better to do than gossip. Chris and I are fine, we're having a good time."

"I heard that he took you out on a yacht for a romantic dinner for your first date, he sounds amazing."

"Yeah, he does because that never happened," Stephanie laughed. "We took our kids to Chuck E. Cheese's for our first date, tres romantique."

Maria laughed, "That's still cute though."

"He's cute, speaking of cute," Stephanie said, taking the perfect segue while she could. "Professionally speaking of course because I think Chris is one of the most gorgeous men out there."

"Who?" Maria asked curiously.

"Jeff Hardy." Maria's cheeks tinged a light shade of pink, which was exactly the response that Stephanie was looking for. She had the in and it wasn't like she was going to go into some elaborate plan, but this was working to her advantage. "What do you think?"

"Jeff has been a really good friend to me," Maria nodded. "He's a really nice guy and he's there when I want to talk to him and I really appreciate it, what with the divas around here being, well, a little icy."

"That's really very sweet of him, but I hear he's a really sweet guy."

"I have first-hand experience," Maria said, ducking her head a little. "He's pretty much the only reason I'm glad I'm on SmackDown."

"So you'd rather still be on Raw?" Stephanie asked, wondering if she would rather be around Cena. That might put a snag in her plans.

"I have friends over there," she shrugged. "I mean, it _would_ mean that I'd have to be around John, which I wouldn't look forward to, but at least I'd have people that wouldn't outright ignore me over nothing. I came in here to do my job, not to undermine people, which is the impression I get from some of the divas. They think I'm going to take away their jobs or something."

"Don't listen to them," Stephanie waved them off. "So John still a sore subject? I mean, not that you have to answer or anything, but hell, if you want to ask about Paul, we could go toe to toe."

"Oh yeah, Paul cheated on you too, huh? Or at least that's what I hear."

Stephanie thought about agreeing just so they would have that common point of contention with their exes, but she couldn't drag Paul's name through the mud like that when he'd done nothing. "Again, greatly exaggerated, we just didn't get along."

"I _wish_ that was the way me and John broke up, but I guess you've heard that story," Maria said sarcastically. "I think Mickie goes around telling everyone if you ask me. She probably gets great satisfaction of humiliating me."

"She's a bitch," Stephanie agreed.

"Yeah," Maria said with a slight nod. "I don't know what I did to her to make her act that way towards me. I don't know if I did anything or if she's just normally like that. I just…I don't know."

"Do you still…want John?"

"After what he did to me? No way. He took part in it, you know. It's not like if he suddenly dumped Mickie in the most humiliating fashion possible I would suddenly think he was some sort of stand-up guy. I would still think he's scum. There are just some things you can't forgive, some things you can't just turn the other way with and this is one of those things."

"I think you're completely right in that thinking," Stephanie said, patting Maria's hand. "There are tons of guys out there, I'm a testament to that. Seems you kind of like Jeff though, just observing from the way you looked when I mentioned him."

"We're friends, he's a good friend to me," Maria said. "He's been there for me recently and I'm really happy to know him. I mean, he's just…he's Jeff."

"You don't need to say any more," Stephanie said knowingly.

To her, Maria had said enough already.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thanks so much to everyone for reviewing and/or favoriting/alerting this story. I'm glad you like it and I think I'm really getting into the meat of the story now, so hopefully you guys like where this is going and feel free to leave a review, they're much appreciated. Enjoy. :)

* * *

"So you know what to do, right?"

"I don't know why I agreed to do this," Chris said, giving her a look. "Just because I'm your boyfriend now doesn't mean I'm going to do everything you ask me."

"Doesn't it?" Stephanie asked.

"No," he said, folding his arms.

Stephanie folded her own arms and tilted her head, repeating in a different tone, "Doesn't it?"

"You know, your looks and personality are not going to-" She cut him off by pressing a kiss to his lips. Then she pulled away and smiled at him. "You play dirty, you know that, right?"

"I do," she said, then saw Jeff over Chris's shoulder. "There he is! Go!"

Stephanie pushed Chris away from her and he practically stumbled down the hallway. He glared back at Stephanie…or he would have if she had still been there. Damn, but that woman moved fast. He watched as Jeff spoke briefly with Rey Mysterio and then go their separate ways. He started walking over and Jeff saw him and nodded at him as he approached.

"Hey, Chris, you still hanging around here?"

"All the time I can spend with Stephanie, I'll be here, believe me," Chris said. "So what're you up to tonight?"

"Match, same old, same old," Jeff laughed, "You know how it goes, nothing to break up the monotony."

"You know what you need? A girlfriend, one who works here," Chris said, "Believe me, I speak from experience on both ends of the spectrum, having a girl who works here is infinitely better than having a girl who doesn't."

"Yeah, I've done the doesn't work here dance before," Jeff said.

Stephanie peeked around the corner and saw Chris and Jeff talking. She rounded the corner with Maria next to her. "So you know, if you want your own private locker room, we can arrange it."

"Thanks, Stephanie, but I think that would just be obvious favoritism from the other girls," Maria said with a slightly sullen tone. "I don't want to make other people more angry. I don't know why think I'm going to swoop in on them or whatever they think I'm going to do. It's not like I chose to go over here and it's not like I have a ton of political power."

"I can issue a warning," she said as they walked by Chris and Jeff. She winked slightly at Chris.

"Again, they'd probably think I was using politics to get them in trouble. It's something I probably need to handle on my own."

"Wow," Chris said as they passed. "Maria looks beautiful tonight."

Jeff turned his head to look at Maria's retreating form. A smile came unknowingly to his lips. She did look beautiful that night. Her hair looked like it had been newly dyed and freshly done as it flowed in long read waves down her back. She was wearing a white dress that hugged her curves and set off the tan color of her skin. He didn't even need to see her face to picture her shining eyes and that slightly crooked smile she always seemed to reserve for him.

"Shouldn't you be noticing your own girlfriend?" Jeff asked when he broke from his reverie.

"A guy can appreciate a good-looking woman," Chris told him. "You know, I hear she's really interested in you."

"What!" Jeff said, feeling a sudden urge to push Chris like he was crazy. "Where did you hear this?"

"Dude, calm down," Chris chuckled. "Wow, judging from that response, I'd say that you want to get your freak on with Miss Maria."

"Wow, don't _ever_ say anything like that again. That was just downright creepy," Jeff said, shaking his head.

Chris was actually surprised by Jeff's reaction. He'd expected the other man to be happy with the prospect of Maria being interested, but he'd almost jumped Chris over the idea. Jeff had it bad and he couldn't understand why he wouldn't take the plunge himself instead of having Chris guide him over to the pool that was Maria. Hell, he'd gathered up his courage and asked Stephanie out. He got that Jeff was the more…sensitive type, but he seriously needed grow a pair and ask out a woman he was _clearly_ interested in.

"It was the truth," Chris said, "and yeah. I mean, we both know Maria has been having problems here with the other divas so Stephanie has kind of been befriending her and-"

"Are you two interfering?" Jeff grumbled, turning a slight shade of pink out of sheer embarrassment. "I can handle my own love life."

"No, we know, believe me," Chris said, "Stephanie was just talking with Maria and she was very, very fond of you."

"Fond of me? That's something you say when someone wants to be friends, you got attraction out of fond for me?"

"Well it wasn't in so many words," Chris said, "I'm just saying she seemed to like you and if you got off your lazy ass and asked her out for dinner or lunch or a movie or _something_, you wouldn't be moping around thinking about her."

"I don't think about her."

"Jeff, man, you were just practically drooling as you saw her walk by, I thought about going to catering and getting you a napkin."

"Shut up," Jeff said, shoving at Chris a little. "She's still upset about John. I don't want to swoop in and be the guy that's the rebound, you know. I mean, she might not even want to go out with anybody, she might still want John."

"Excuses, excuses, you're just scared."

"I am not," Jeff said and Chris knew he had the in. None of the wrestlers he had ever known liked to be called scared. It was just something that meant they were cowardly and in this profession, you couldn't be cowardly. If you had to do a spot that required you to fly through the air from the top of a cage, you did it. If you had to flip through the air, you did it, if you had to get hit in the back with a chair, you did it. You just put whatever fear you might have aside and do what you had to do so being called scared was being called out.

"Sounds to me like you're scared."

"I just don't want to-"

"Stop it, Jeff, dude, you like the girl, ask her out, the worst she can say is no and then that's that, you stay friends with her, but then you have the potential for more. Go!" Chris said, pushing his friend in the direction Maria and Stephanie had disappeared to.

"If she says no…"

"She probably won't, I mean, don't like, you have a lot of fans who are girls who love you? Obviously that means you're doing something right so you shouldn't be afraid of Maria of all people. She's one of the nicest girls on the roster anyways and even if she did say no, she'd let you down so gently that you'd probably feel good about yourself after."

"She is sweet."

"Very sweet," Chris said.

"Stop talking about her like that or I'm going to start thinking you've got a crush on her," Jeff joked.

"Stop stalling, Jeffrey."

"Okay, okay, I'm going, but if she says no, you're going to owe me like ten drinks to get over the embarrassment," Jeff said, pointing at him.

"Deal because I ain't gonna lose!" Chris pointed back at him.

Jeff turned and stuck his hands in his pockets. He wasn't nervous to talk to Maria, but maybe a little nervous to ask her out for dinner. It wasn't that he thought he'd necessarily get rejected…okay, he kind of thought he'd be rejected. It just seemed like Maria had been in love with John, like _in love_ with John and it hadn't even been that long afterwards and he thought he was having real feelings for Maria, but what if she couldn't feel the same because John hang heavy on her mind?

Plus, he'd been burned in the past. His one long-term girlfriend, who had been on and off to begin with, had left him for good the year before and he'd been burned by that so he was carrying his own battle scars. Would his scars and hers cancel each other out or would it just open a world of pain that he wasn't ready for? He didn't know, but things had to be worth giving a shot, right? You couldn't go through life acting like you were scared of everything or you would never try anything in the first place. Jeff was supposed to be this high-flying daredevil and he couldn't even ask out a woman.

"Be a man," he muttered to himself as he saw Maria and Stephanie laughing about something up ahead. He took a deep breath to still his courage and then walked over to them, his most charming smile on his face. "Hey, ladies," he drawled.

"Hey, Jeff," Maria said brightly, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"Hey," he said back, nodding to her and Stephanie, "Steph, do you think I could have a moment with Maria?"

"Oh, of course," she said, reaching out to squeeze his arm and give him a smile. Jeff nearly blushed again because he knew that she knew what he was about to do. It made sense she would know and probably planned this with Chris.

"What's up, Jeff?" Maria asked.

"You look really pretty tonight."

"Thanks," Maria said. "I just have an interview segment thing for tonight so I didn't have to dress for a match and well, I liked the dress and they wanted me glammed up so here I am."

"You look good."

"You said that," she giggled.

"Yeah, I guess I did," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. Why was this so hard? All it was, was dinner, that's it, a meal, some food, consumption, maybe walking her back to her hotel room, that was all. He wasn't going to look for more. He just wanted a little time with her. "It bore repeating though."

"Well then thank you again," she said, biting her lip. "So I'm thinking that you sent Stephanie away for a reason."

"Oh well, she should go find her boyfriend and bug him for a while. He's getting too cocky dating a McMahon like he is."

"I think that's how Chris was before he started dating her."

Jeff laughed, but he didn't want to be talking about Chris and Stephanie. He wanted to be talking about him and Maria. God, before, wasn't it easy to talk to her? Why was it so much more difficult now that he was aware of his feelings? He should still feel at ease with her, shouldn't he? No, of course he shouldn't, he was going out on a limb and that limb could break, although he'd taken harder falls, he'd have to see Maria every week, days on end and man, was it getting hot in here?

"Are you sure you're okay?" Maria asked.

"Just hot in here," he told her.

"Really?" she asked. "It doesn't seem too hot or anything to me."

"Probably just me."

"Are you getting sick?" she wondered. "Maybe you're starting to run a fever?"

"No, no, nothing like that," he said, "I'm perfectly fine."

"Well good because I think they kind of need you on the show and you going out there with a cold wouldn't be cool. All runny noses and coughs," she laughed. "So seriously, what's up?"

"Nothing, not really, I mean, it is."

"Spit it out," Maria told him. Now she was curious as to what he had to say. He seemed extremely flustered and she couldn't figure out why. Oh God, was John here tonight? But he had no reason to be on SmackDown, did he? What about Mickie? No, if John wasn't here, she wouldn't be either.

"Do you maybe want to go to dinner with me?"

"Wow, like…a date?"

"Well, if you want to call it that."

"Do you want to call it that?" she asked.

"If you want to."

"Jeff, I kind of need a definitive answer here or else I'll come looking dumpy and not like a hot date," she told him, placing her hand on his shoulder, trying to ease whatever tension was making him act like a teenager.

"Then yeah, yeah it is a date."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, reads, faves, and what not. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story and I'll try to do Jeff and Maria justice. Reviews are welcome and appreciated, enjoy. :)

* * *

"Here, you take this."

Stephanie looked at the two men in front of her and gave a cross between a grimace and a furrowed brow. "Um, excuse me?"

"You got him into this mess and you can take him," Matt said.

"What's going on here?" Chris asked as he came to the door and looked over Stephanie's shoulder. "Hey, guys, what are you doing here? Jeff, don't you have a date with Maria tonight?"

"He does," Matt said, "but he's acting like a complete moron and I'm tired of hearing about how he has nothing to wear like he's a teenaged girl, so now he's your problem. I managed to get him dressed so you can just take him until he has to leave."

"We're busy," Chris said, placing his hands on Stephanie's shoulders.

"I don't care if you guys were in the middle of doing it, I'm not dealing with him, later," Matt said, slapping his brother on the back, "Good luck with Maria, man, I think you're going to need it and stop being so nervous."

"Yeah, thanks," Jeff mumbled as he stood there awkwardly.

"Well come on in," Stephanie said, stepping out of the way. Jeff shuffled inside and past Chris and Stephanie and saw why they were busy. All five of their children were sitting on the floor, well, Murphy was lying on the floor looking up at some toys hanging above her, but the rest of them were sitting on the floor.

"Hey guys," he said to the kids, who barely gave him a second glance before going back to their playing. Only Ash seemed interested in him, probably because he was older. Jeff sat on the couch as Stephanie and Chris sat on the other end.

"Why is your hair different colors?" Ash asked, tilting his head to observe Jeff's head. "Is that how your hair always is?"

"Yeah, I dyed it so that it would be different colors," Jeff explained to him.

"Do people like that?" Ash wondered. He had never seen anyone with so many colors in their hair and it was just a little weird. He wondered why he would like his hair like that. Ash ran his hands over his own hair.

"Yeah, they seem to respond well to it," Jeff drawled at him.

"I think it's weird."

"Ash," Chris said sternly, giving his son the look.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be mean," Ash said, scurrying back to his toys lest he get in trouble again. He didn't want to lose his dessert for the evening.

"So you were annoying your brother?" Stephanie asked, taking Chris's hand and placing it in her lap while she still held it. It was a small gesture, almost unconscious in the way she'd done it, but Jeff noticed and he noticed how they were simultaneously rubbing the other's hand. He found that he wanted that, something so simple, just a simple gesture like that. He wasn't one for fireworks when he wasn't working.

That was a common misconception he found. His fans always saw the extravagance of his lifestyle, the sculptures and the art, the music, the wrestling, his show with his brother, all of it was very extroverted, yes, and very out there, but when he was alone, he was just a regular guy who liked to have quiet time to himself. He didn't try to be something he wasn't and sometimes people saw who he wasn't and he'd learned to live with it, but he wanted someone that could understand that how he projected himself sometimes wasn't who he was. Sure, some people thought he was this sensitive guy, but it wasn't even that.

He wanted a girl who could sit on a couch and hold hands and make it look like the most loving move in the world. He wanted the way that he saw couples talk to each other, in that hushed way with their heads leaned in close. He wanted things like that and not flashy. "He says I was annoying him," Jeff said. "I just didn't know what to wear. I didn't really bring anything nice."

"You look fine to me," Stephanie said, looking over his jeans and dress shirt rolled at the sleeves with a shiny purple tie. "I think you look really good actually."

"Should I be nervous?" Chris joked and Stephanie laughed and kissed the corner of his mouth. Jeff wanted that too, a corner of the mouth kiss, playful and teasing and just the right amount of flirty.

"Of course not," Stephanie told him sweetly.

"I bought the tie today, I didn't want to look bad for her. I then spent a few hours trying to find the best place to eat since I wasn't familiar with the city. I found a pretty good place…I hope, you don't think I look too dressy or not dressy enough? Should I have worn a jacket?"

"Wow, when you said he was gone, you were right," Stephanie told her boyfriend. "Jeff, there's nothing to be nervous about, this is just Maria, that's all you have to tell yourself when things get overwhelming. This is just Maria."

"That's the problem," Jeff said. "It's Maria. If I act like a jerk or an asshole, I'm going to have to see her week in and week out. I'm going to always look like that to her. She may think I'm boring, she may hate me and we were really good friends."

"Which translates into really good boyfriend and girlfriend," Stephanie told him. "Chris, were you nervous when we went out on our first date?"

"Hell yeah," Chris said and Stephanie gave him a look, "I mean, no way, of course not. I was the picture of confidence when I went out with Stephanie. I mean, look at us now, we're so domesticated that we're staying in tonight watching our kids."

"Good boy," she patted his knee. Yup, Jeff wanted to add knee patting to the repertoire now, definitely. Then a brilliant idea dawned on him.

"What if you guys came with us?" Jeff asked. "It would ease the pressure of the date and I wouldn't look stupid because Chris would tell me if I did."

"You want two adults and five children to come with you?" Chris asked incredulously. As nervous as he'd been on his first date with Stephanie, he'd never wanted an entire cavalry to come along with them.

"Matt can look after your kids and you two could come."

"Oh no," Stephanie said, "you've just got to jump, Jeff Hardy. Love is something you have to do without safety nets."

"I'm not sure I like that imagery," Jeff said, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach at the thought of falling flat on his face. As much confidence as he had in the ring, doing his high-flying moves and daredevil stunts, facing something like this and looking it in the eye was a whole new mountain to climb. When you were facing a difficult move, it was just that, a move, an entity, but this was an actual person who could look you back in the eye.

"Then you're never going to get the girl and you do want the girl, right?"

"I like her, yeah," Jeff answered.

"Then go get her!"

Maria bit her lip and twirled in front of the mirror again. She didn't know if this dress was too risqué. She wasn't sure what type of date Jeff was taking her on, but wherever it was, it was the first date she'd had since she'd been with John. John loved dancing, it was a shame he was so bad at it because it was one of his favorite date activities. They'd find some dance club in the city they were staying and then they'd go for hours and come back to the hotel a rumpled, sweaty mess and many times, they'd fall to the bed and shed their clothes quickly.

She didn't want to think about that now. She didn't want to think about John ever, but he always crept into her mind somehow. She hated seeing him on Raw, getting cheered by all the naïve fans who bought into his good guy act. If they only knew the real man that he was, they'd be shocked. Still, this was not going to get her down tonight. She was going out with Jeff Hardy and that was that.

She was honestly a little surprised he'd asked her out. They'd been getting closer as friends, but she had no idea that he'd even entertained the idea of more, not that she was complaining. Jeff was an amazing guy and one of her only friends at SmackDown. That alone put him high in her book and she wanted to look amazing for him tonight. The clingy blue dress she was wearing though, she wasn't sure if it screamed sexy or hooker. She turned away from the mirror.

"What do you think, honestly?"

"I think you look fantastic," Victoria told her.

"Fantastic or whoretastic?" Maria said.

Victoria laughed at her friend, "You don't look like a whore, go look at the other divas on SmackDown and then you'll know what a whore looks like. I think you look smoking hot and Jeff will have to roll his tongue back in his mouth after he sees you."

"Are you sure?" Maria said. "I also have this yellow dress, it's more flowy. I should try it on."

"If you want to," Victoria said, "but judging from the way that I've caught Jeff looking at you, you could probably go on this date in a t-shirt and sweatpants and he would think you look gorgeous."

Maria's face turned red and she turned to her suitcase before her friend could see her burning cheeks. "I don't know what he even wants to do with me. I mean, he's just this nice guy and he could probably have-"

"Do not let what John did to you affect the way you see yourself," Victoria told her and it was something Maria needed to hear. For so long afterwards, she'd tried to find her flaws. She knew she had them, everyone did, but she figured there had to be something extra wrong with her that drove John away. She still sometimes fell into that mentality and standing here now, pretending like she knew what Jeff saw in her was unnerving.

"I'm trying, I'm really trying," Maria said, pulling out the yellow dress. It was a halter top with a braided strap and the skirt poofed out the slightest bit. It had a vintage look to it while still being very modern. She pulled off her blue dress and slipped on the yellow one before turning again to Victoria.

"Oh yeah, definitely," Victoria nodded approvingly. "This one I like, it looks great against your skin tone, it's classy without being trashy. Yes, wear this and he is going to fall in love with you at first glance…if he isn't in love with you already."

"Stop!" Maria said, running her fingers through her hair. "And my makeup-"

"Gorgeous."

"Hair?"

"Perfection."

"Self-esteem?"

"Should be at an all-time high."

Maria laughed and sat down on the bed. "It's just been a while since I've even entertained the thought of letting another guy in. I'm not saying that John was the love of my life and the betrayal destroyed me, but the way he went about it, the way Mickie set me up, it's hard to come back from that. It's hard to face things again when you know you've been duped before. I'm wary and what if he thinks I'm a ditz."

"He's been your friend!" Victoria said. "He knows that ditzy character is only for the screen and he knows how intelligent you really are."

"I just don't want to screw this up like-"

"Do not even finish that sentence, I forbid you from finishing that sentence," Victoria said. "You didn't screw up, John screwed up when he cheated on you with that walking excuse for an STD."

Maria reached out and hugged her friend, "Thank you for helping me tonight, I don't think I could have gotten ready on my own."

"You're welcome," Victoria said as there was a knock at the door. "Here comes the prince."

"Don't put expectations on us already!" Maria said, standing up and smoothing out the invisible wrinkles in her dress. "Wish me luck?"

"Good luck, I'll leave as soon as you go, I wouldn't want to still be around when you drag him back here and have your way with him," Victoria joked as Maria blushed furiously and shook her head vehemently.

"I wouldn't!"

"Get going or you'll never find out," Victoria gave her and encouraging and yet forceful shove towards the door. Maria tentatively walked over, slipping her feet into her shoes by the door before opening it and greeting Jeff with a luminescent smile. His eyes lit up when he saw her and she returned his smile with a grin of her own.

"Hey, Jeff."

"Hey," he said, "you look…amazing."

"Thanks."

"These are for you," he said, giving her a box of something wrapped in a pink ribbon.

"You got me a gift?"

"People usually bring flowers or chocolates, but I was trying to think out of the box," he said, but then added, "well, that doesn't sound very good when they're actually _in_ a box, does it?"

She laughed and it eased a lot of the tension they were both feeling, "Should I open this now?"

"If you want, I mean, you can wait," he told her, but she was already unraveling the ribbon that tied it together. She opened it up and saw a pair of sparkly gloves. "I know that you like to wear gloves when you're wrestling and I saw these and thought you might like them."

"I love them, thank you," she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek. He probably could have melted right there, but thankfully, he stayed in one solid piece.

"You want to go now?"

"Yes," she nodded, putting the gloves on a table near the door and then letting her arm link with Jeff's.

They both silently hoped for the best.


End file.
